


In the Street Lights

by TDaL



Series: Stray!Tim [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Catlad!Tim, Gen, Pre-Reboot, Stray!Tim, Tim Drake is Catlad, Tim is a fanboy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-18
Updated: 2015-10-27
Packaged: 2018-04-26 21:34:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5021308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TDaL/pseuds/TDaL
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What do you do when the most infamous cat burglar in all of Gotham shows an interest in you? </p><p>Why, become her accomplice of course.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> For my precious [Woctab](http://archiveofourown.org/users/tardar_sauce/pseuds/tardar_sauce).  
> I blame you. You blame me.  
> We're both filthy enablers.

It was cold. So cold that the tip of his nose felt like it was frozen, so cold that his fingers were feeling vaguely numb even within the warm confines of his gloves. But there was no way that he would let the cold keep him away from his nightly escapades.

Gotham herself was a very cold place in general. One might even call certain parts of the city freezing. With Crime Alley as the center of the coldness.

None of that deterred Tim Drake as he climbed fire escapes and hid behind dumpsters as he followed Gotham’s iconic vigilantes around during the nights. The cold was nothing but a small nuisance as he strived to capture the perfect pictures to add to his ever growing collection.

Tim had been a fan of Batman and Robin, he had started out with watching snippets of the Dynamic Duo fighting on the television and reading about their exploits in the newspapers. It had all come to a head when, at nine years old, he saw Robin preform a trick on TV that he had only ever seen one person pull off.

Dick Grayson.

The more that he watched closely to the reports and videos, the more he knew that he was certain of Robin’s identity. It wasn’t hard to deduce from there who Batman was. None other than Dick Grayson’s guardian and adoptive father, Bruce Wayne. It made a lot of sense. Considering the vast arsenal that Batman possessed which had to be funded by an immense fortune.

Once he knew who they were, Tim started going out after them. He was utterly fascinated by them. Even when Dick Grayson moved on from being Robin and became Nightwing and a new Robin showing up on the scene- Jason Todd, who was Bruce Wayne’s newly adopted son- Tim still dutifully stuck with his nightly activities.

He wrinkled his nose at the uncomfortable feeling of the tip being cold. Tim pulled up his scarf to cover the lower half of his face as he leaned against the ventilation fan on the roof of a building.

This area of the city had had an influx of criminal activities over the past few weeks and was currently a prime location for Batman and Robin sightings.

As aware as he was of his surroundings, trying to keep an eye out for either vigilante, Tim was running through many different thoughts in his mind. He had to make his way back to the mansion earlier than normal since there was the looming threat of snow hanging over him. He’d need to clean up his clothing and try to get a good night’s rest before his housekeeper showed up for the day. She was used to him getting up early in the morning and he didn’t want to give her any reason to worry about him. This was a relatively new housekeeper so he was still testing the waters around her.

Nothing would halt his activities more than someone trying to nose their way into his business.

It was already past midnight when Tim started getting uncomfortable. For all that his winter clothing was warm, sitting still in an attempt to get proper shots for photographs wasn’t a good way to stay warm. Neither Batman nor Robin had shown up anywhere in the vicinity for the night and Tim was tempted to just give up. There was no use staying out in the cold and getting sick one night when he could go home and stay healthy to go out another night.

Tim brought his hands up to his mouth and blew on them with the hope that they would warm up. He let his camera hang around his neck as he stood up, moving his fingers as he started walking towards the fire escape so he could get down off of the building.

As he descended down the ladder he caught himself thinking that it had been a quiet night in general. Not a lot of activity had gone down in the area that he had stationed himself in. Besides a mugging that he had watched from a distance, not many people had been walking outside.

Tim guessed that most Gothamites had the sense to stay inside with the cold weather.

He hopped the short distance down from the fire escape to the ground of the alleyway and made his way towards the street where he had locked up his bicycle.

He was just about to turn a corner when someone ran into the alleyway and bumped into him. Tim let out a surprised shout as he fell onto his behind by the force of it. Whoever had bumped into him quickly grabbed him off of the ground and started pulling him behind a dumpster.

Tim tried to scream, but a hand quickly covered his mouth and no amount of squirming that he did was enough to free himself from the tight hold. Oh god. After all of this time he was going to die in a dirty alleyway behind a dumpster. After a few years of running around after Batman and Robin on rooftops, alleyways, and hiding behind large objects, this was how his life was going to end.

He could feel tears bubble up in his eyes, which stung as they rolled down his cheeks as the tear tracks froze almost instantly and his screaming had started to change into sobs that bubbled up from deep within him.

“Hush, little one. We don’t want to be found.” A gentle voice whispered in his ear. It was a woman’s voice. Her grip was still tight on him as she reached up and patted his beanie covered head in an effort to calm him down.

For a few moments the only sound in the alleyway was Tim’s frantic breathing through his nose, but he soon heard men coming from the direction of the mouth of the alley. “Where’d that bitch run off to?”

“Hell if I know.”

There was a thudding noise and a groan of pain. “Well, wise up! She’s gonna regret stealin’ from the boss.”

Boots thumped loudly as the man who was speaking continued walking. The other man who had probably gotten hit groaned. “If we catch her. Y’know how hard it is to catch her.”

The noises started fading away, probably as the pursuers continued on in their search for the woman.

Tim managed to calm himself down slightly as the sounds faded away completely and the woman started relaxing as well. He grabbed onto the hand that was over his mouth, trying to pull it away, but she held on tightly, even as he felt her lean to look around the dumpster to make sure that there was no one else in the area.

It was only when she stood up, no doubt certain that her pursuers weren’t around anymore, that she let Tim go. He gasped in a breath of air as he launched himself away from her. Tim stumbled to the ground, turning as he crab walked to the other end of the alley, pressing his back against the wall of the opposite building.

Even though her back was turned to him as she walked towards the opening of the alley, Tim was able to recognize her immediately. It was hard not to, with her skin tight leather suit, whip on her hip and the iconic cowl with ears on top of it.

Oh god. No Batman and Robin in sight the entire night. No rogue or major player, and now he was in an alley with Catwoman.

Tim knew that he didn’t need to be too worried with her around- or at least he hoped so- since she wasn’t usually the type to go out with the plan of hurting people. He had just gotten his bearings back and was toying with the idea to run off in the other direction when Catwoman turned back towards him.

He froze as he looked up at the yellow lenses of her goggles. They stared at each other for a few moments before Catwoman sighed, her shoulders dropping as she relaxed a little bit more and lifted her goggles up onto her forehead.

The first thing he noticed was that her eyes were startlingly green, almost piercing, and he was captivated by them even as she walked towards him. Tim pulled his legs up to his chest in an attempt to make himself smaller than he already was. There would be no cause for her to think that he might strike out at her.

She crouched down in front of him, placing one of her hands on the ground to keep her balance. Not that she needed it. Tim had seen the crazy acrobatics that she performed. Often times they were almost as impressive as anything that Dick Grayson did. Tim looked down at the hand and back up to her as he felt his heart, which had begun to calm down, start to beat wildly in his chest again.

Her mouth turned down into a frown and her features softened as she regarded him. “I’m sorry. I must’ve frightened you.”

He didn’t say anything as she spoke softly to him, probably trying to sound soothing. Now he started worrying about the camera around his neck. Catwoman had sticky fingers, he didn’t want her to steal it from him.

“What are you doing out in the cold, kitten?” She tried again, trying to coax him into talking back to her. “Shouldn’t you be warm at home with your parents?”

“No one’s at home.” Oh dear. Tim felt his eyes widen as he let that little snippet slip out unintentionally. He slapped a gloved hand over his mouth.

Catwoman’s frown deepened and her brow furrowed as she took in his words. “Even if there’s no one home, that doesn’t mean that you have to be out here.”

Tim opened his fingers so he could talk to her from behind them. A sad attempt at keeping himself covered up. “If you’re so worried about why I’m out here because it’s cold, then why are you out here?”

She looked taken back by his words for a split second before she let out a soft huff of laughter. “Alright, hold your horses, kiddo. I asked you first.”

Tim just narrowed his eyes at her, closing his fingers over his mouth once more to try and convey to her that he wasn’t open to talking to her anymore. She stared down at him again and she sighed after a short while.

“Fine. How about we both agree that we’re out here for our own reasons?” Tim eyed her suspiciously before slowly nodding his head. “Good. Now, tell me where you live so I can get you back home safely.”

“I can get home just fine by myself!” Tim protested. There was no way that he was going to lead Catwoman over to his house. It was filled with various antiquities that his father and mother had brought back from Jack Drake’s archaeological digs. It’d be like opening the den of the Forty Thieves with a soft muttering of _open sesame_. “I live close by. I don’t need your help.”

Catwoman scoffed and reached up with her free hand. Tim flinched and curled in on himself, closing his eyes tightly and bracing himself for something, either a punch or a slap or anything, and was surprised when she simply patted his head again.

“No need to hiss at me, little spitfire. I got the message.” Her hand left his head with that being said and he heard her boots scraping against the concrete.

Tim was left in silence for a minute before he looked up once more. Catwoman was no longer crouching in front of him, in fact, she wasn’t anywhere to be seen. He quickly got up, shaking his tense limbs as he wandered around, looking for any trace of her.

He didn’t forget to look up either, as most people tended not to do. He wandered around the alley for a few minutes before deciding that she had actually left and then started running towards where his bike was. Never before had he biked home so fast in all his nightly outings. Tim peered out of the windows and closed all of the curtains. He didn’t think that he had been followed home, but one could never be sure.

-

It had been two weeks since his encounter with Catwoman. Since then he had only been out a total of three nights. Winter had started to settle in Gotham and had taken her into its tight grip.

Thick snow had fallen on the city and a bone freezing cold was hanging in the air. Tim hadn’t let winter hinder him that much before, but this winter was most certainly the harshest in the past few years.

Tim was happily clutching his camera to his chest as he walked across a rooftop. At first he had been tempted on staying home, with how cold the night had become, but there had been a part of him that had started beckoning out into the night and he had gone out anyways. It turned out that his gut feeling hadn’t led him astray, because he had stumbled upon quite the epic fight between Batman and Robin and Penguin and his goons. At one point Robin had even jumped over his hiding place and Tim had quickly snapped a few pictures.

As soon as he was sure that the fight had moved away from the building he was on top of, Tim crawled out of his hiding spot with the plan to get home as soon as possible. There was no doubt in his mind that there were going to be gorgeous pictures on this film roll.

His fingers were tingling, not because of the cold, but because he wanted to go down into his dark room back at the mansion and develop the photos as soon as possible.

Tim was just close to a water drain pipe on the side of the building that he would use to shimmy down when he heard boots crunching the gravel on the ground of the roof.

“Well, well, well. Would you look what the cat dragged in?”

He quickly turned to face the woman who had approached him, but in doing so his boots slipped over the icy metal edge of the roof. Tim felt his heart drop as he started falling sideways towards the alley and it jolted when something wrapped around his waist and pulled him back. A loud rush of air escaped from him as he smacked onto the roof on his side.

Tim groaned in pain as he reached to his camera, hoping that it hadn’t gotten damaged in the fall.

“You almost fall off a five-story building and the first thing you do is check your camera?” A familiar incredulous voice asked him.

He rolled onto his back, tilting his head and arching his back slightly to look at the woman behind him. In over three years he hadn’t once been caught out during his nightly endeavors and now he had been caught by the same person twice in as many weeks.

Catwoman had a frown on her face and one of her hands was planted on her hip as she walked over to him. She swiftly moved the other hand and Tim could feel something unravelling from around his waist. Her whip was expertly coiled up with only one hand as she stopped right by him, her boots bracketing his head. She scowled down at him as she bent down to regard him.

“Tell me what you’re doing out here. I’m not going to let you off so easily like last time.”

Tim gulped at her commanding tone. This was a part of Catwoman that he had only seen from a distance when she got tired of bumbling henchmen and had to resort to forceful coercion to get them to talk. “Uh…” Her green eyes narrowed ever further as he tried to force words out.

“I take pictures of Batman and Robin.”

Oh god. If he wasn’t so embarrassed by his behavior and the fact that Catwoman was leaning over him, Tim was sure that he would’ve slapped his forehead at his stupidity.

Catwoman’s scowl melted as it shifted into a confused look. “What?”

“Well… I go out at night. I take pictures. I’m a fan?” He tried to redeem himself, but there wasn’t anything to save at this point. He had already hit rock bottom.

She stared down for a few more moments before she managed to speak again. “You take pictures of the Batman and his little sidekick? You roam the roofs and alleys of Gotham to take pictures of them without worrying about the dangerous people that are out at night?” If she put it like that, it sounded a lot more stupid than it actually was.

Tim looked away from her, not yet daring to sit up as it would put his back to her. “Y-yes?” He squeaked out uncertainly.

Her only response was a soft “huh” and she started tapping her clawed fingertips against her hip.

Tim waited in baited silence as she seemed to take him in. He knew that he didn’t look like much. His jacket was big and puffy, almost to the point where it drowned him. His cheeks were probably bright red from both the cold and his embarrassment and he could feel his bangs were sticking to his cheeks.

“Wait. Has Batsy ever caught you before?”

He shook his head, ignoring the gravel shifting underneath him. She made another confused noise as she straightened, no longer looming over him. Tim took this opportunity to roll away until he could sit up to face her. Her eyes fixated on the camera on his chest and he clung onto it protectively.

Catwoman turned and crouched down in front of him again, reminding him of their first encounter and her head tilted to the side. “How about a nice big mug of hot chocolate? My apartment isn’t far.”

The words wouldn’t compute in his mind. Had Catwoman, notorious burglar and nemesis of Batman, just asked him to drink hot chocolate with her? He must have looked very confused, because she started laughing. “I’m sorry. Did I startle you?”

Tim’s mouth opened and closed a few times before he could think of a retort to her question. “Why?”

Her eyes glistened as the corners of her mouth curled up into a smile. “Why indeed? It’s cold. Surely you’d like to warm up a little? Also, I like taking in strays.” His hesitation was probably more that pronounced, because she just shook her head. “I don’t bite. I promise.” Catwoman got up then and held out her hand.

Tim stared at her hand. Encased in black leather and sharp glinting claws in his face. She twitched her fingers and the claws retracted and she wiggled them to try and spur him into making a decision.

Even Tim didn’t know why he reached out to grab her hand. For years he had been on the peripheral of the vigilante community and now he was suddenly being pulled into it by Catwoman of all people. Her smile widened, her teeth glinting in the moonlight as she pulled him up and close to her. “Hang on.” Was the only warning that he got before she grabbed him by the waist, pulling him close and cracked her whip. Within the next few seconds he was flying in the air and landing on the roof of the building next to the one they had been on before.

A rush went through him like he hadn’t ever felt before as they landed. A giggle, which edged on the border of hysterical, slipped from his lips as she started tugging him towards the edge of the roof. Tim held onto her shoulder as they repeated the process again, swinging from building to building until they eventually stopped on a roof where Catwoman pulled away from him.

“We’re here.”

Tim took a moment to take in his surroundings. He wasn’t exactly sure how long it had taken them to arrive at their destination, but he could quickly tell that they weren’t anywhere near where they had stared. Catwoman walked to the roof access door and he moved to follow her, but his legs shook and he fell onto his knees.

The sound of him falling alerted Catwoman and she turned back to him. Her hands were on her hips again as she smirked over at him. “A mix of adrenaline and vertigo. Don’t worry. It’ll wear off in a moment or two.”

He closed his eyes, breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth to try and calm himself down again. The rush that he had felt flying between Gotham’s rooftops eventually went down and he tried to get up again. His legs were still a bit wobbly, but not so much that he wasn’t able to follow Catwoman into the building.

Her apartment wasn’t like anything that he had imagined. They were technically still in a part of Gotham that was considered to not be well off, but it was quite extravagant. Tim could only imagine that it came along with her tendency to steal shiny things.

Tim awkwardly stood in the hallway as Catwoman walked into the apartment, hanging her whip up on a hook on the wall and pulling her eared hood down. Her short dark hair was plastered against her skull like she had been sweating a lot. He couldn’t help but wonder how she stayed warm during such cold nights. Surely a leather suit wouldn’t be enough to keep the biting cold of Gotham’s winter out?

“Take off your boots and hang up your jacket. You can sit on the couch while I change and warm up our drinks.” Catwoman walked to the other side of the apartment, her hips swaying as she slipped into another room.

Tim sniffed, wiggling his nose as it started to warm up again and did as she asked. The living area was small, but very comfortable. And warm. It was nice and toasty in the apartment. He shuffled over, sitting on the white couch that looked like it belonged in France over a hundred years ago. He sat himself down on the edge of it, looking around the room. It was simple, yet had a few touches here and there. Most of the furnishings were dark besides the white couches. Some paintings hung on the wall, which he was sure were probably expensive along with some objects in glass cases. He rubbed his hand over his nose as it tingled.

It was only a few minutes later before Catwoman walked into the room with two steaming mugs of hot chocolate. She smiled at him as she handed him his and moved to sit down in an armchair across from him. She pulled her legs up, tucking them underneath her as she watched him.

Tim squirmed slightly in his seat. He shimmied back a little until he hit the back of the couch, leaving his feet hovering over the floor. The mug was warm in his hands, quickly starting to heat up his fingers. He was careful not to hit his camera, which was still around his neck, as he held it. It was only until Catwoman took a sip of her own drink that he dared to drink some of his hot chocolate.

Rationally he knew that if she had wanted to drug him, all she had to do was slip something into his mug and not her own, but the smell was enticing. The feeling of the warm drink running down his throat and into his stomach was glorious. It was already starting to warm him up.

He and Catwoman stared at each other as they drank their hot beverages. Tim still wary about her possible ulterior motives and Catwoman undoubtedly just taking him in.

“How old are you?” Tim was surprised that that was the first question that she asked him.

If he had been in her position he would’ve maybe asked for a name first or perhaps what a kid like him was thinking, going out into the night to take pictures of Batman and Robin.

“I’m twelve.” Tim anticipated her reaction. The slight surprise that she wasn’t able to mask and the subtle eyebrow raise. “Yes, that’s my actual age.” He felt the need to add on. He knew that he was small. It was something that was pointed out to him quite often. Short in stature and skinny.

“How old are _you_?” He rebutted, trying to keep her from asking him any other unnecessary questions.

She tutted as she shook her head. “You know it’s not polite to ask a lady that, surely.” He remained silent, pressing the mug against his cheek as he stared at her. “Somewhere in between twenty and forty.” Catwoman eventually replied, the curl of her mouth pleased.

Tim was about to ask her another question when a cat walked into the room from what had to have been Catwoman’s bedroom and walked into the living room. It had long, white hair and started purring as it jumped on the arm of the chair that Catwoman was sitting on. She idly stroked the feline’s head before the cat seemed to notice Tim’s presence. It stopped and looked over at him with bright blue eyes before it jumped down and made its way over to him. It was still staring at him as it started sniffing at his toes. He wiggled them to see what the cat would do, but all it did was give his toes a disdainful look before lowering itself to the ground. Tim started when the cat leapt up onto his lap. It seemed to be testing him as it pressed its paws into his thighs and it eventually walked towards his chest and started butting its head against his elbow.

Catwoman started chuckling from her perch. “She likes you. You can pet her, if you’d like.”

Tim had never really been around animals before. His parents wouldn’t let him keep a pet and since he didn’t really have that many friends, he hadn’t been exposed to them much at all. He held his fingers in front of the cat’s nose, holding in his breath as the feline sniffed at them. Soon she started purring like she had done with Catwoman and he started scratching its head.

“Her name is Rosa.”

The question wasn’t voiced, but it hung in the air. Tim was still running his fingers through Rosa’s long, soft white fur as he and Catwoman started their staring contest again. Her head was tilted to the side like it had been on the rooftop earlier.

There wasn’t much harm to telling her his name, at least his first name. She could’ve just left him on the rooftop without saying anything, or let him fall down when he had slipped, or robbed him of his most precious belonging when he had been disoriented. As far as he was concerned, there was no malicious intent coming from the woman. “I’m Tim.”

“Tim.” She parroted, as if testing out the name as it rolled over her tongue. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Selina.”

His heart started thudding against his ribcage again. He knew Catwoman’s name! Of course, there was no way for him to be sure that she was telling him the truth, but why would she start lying to him now?

“Now, Tim. Why don’t you start telling me a bit more about your nighttime hobby? Who knows? Maybe I might teach you a trick or two.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Selina starts teaching Tim tricks of the trade.

Tim could feel his stomach rolling in nervousness as he peered down over the edge of the building to the ground below. It seemed like he was much higher up than he actually was, perched on the edge of the roof like this.

He looked over at Selina, who was standing next to him with a satisfied little smile. It was light out, marking the first time that he had been on this side of Gotham during the day. But when Selina had agreed to start training him to traverse the rooftops the way that she did, who was he to tell her no?

Somehow he felt like this wasn’t a good way to train him. All they had done so far was climb up to the rooftop where Selina had promptly told him to take a running start and jump.

“Can’t we practice more hand to hand fighting again?” Tim tried. When he had figured out Batman and Robin’s identities he had asked his parents if he could take martial arts lessons, so he had surprised Selina when they had sparred for the first time.

“You’ve already proven to me that you can hold your own, or at least defend yourself until you find a chance to run away. This is the next step.” She waved her hand out in front of them, pointing at the expansive array rooftops in front of them.

Tim gulped as he stood up from his crouch, moving back to stand next to Selina. Why was he doing this? Why in his right mind had he agreed to this? He was about to tell her that he didn’t want to do this anymore when her hand landed on his shoulder.

She looked down at him- and it was still strange to see her in civilian clothing- kneading his shoulder. “If you’re frightened, then let me go first and show you how it’s done.”

Selina gave him a wink over her shoulder as she walked over to the edge of the roof. Her strides quickened as she started running and she pounced, the toes of her feet landing right on the ledge of the roof. It was a majestic jump. Almost as flawless as he had seen Dick do when he leapt from roof to roof. She touched down on the roof opposite them, at least five feet from the edge, and she tucked herself into a roll, coming up easily. Her hands went up into the air as she posed, turning on the balls of her feet towards Tim and bowing.

“C’mon, Timmy! You can do it!” She shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth.

Tim bounced as he breathed in and out. All he had to do was jump onto the other rooftop. Surely it couldn’t be that hard? He’d seen so many people do it before. Batman, Nightwing, Robin, and now Catwoman. It didn’t matter that they had all trained to be able to jump like that. They all had to start somewhere. At one point they had all stood where Tim was right now.

“Don’t screw up. Don’t screw up.” Tim muttered under his breath as he psyched himself up for the jump. The longer that he waited, the more nervous that he was going to feel. It was now or never.

Tim took a deep breath in and held it for a few seconds before he loudly expelled the air. He bent down slightly before he sprinted towards the edge of the rooftop. For a split second his stomach dropped when he thought he had miscalculated the distance and would step over the edge, but his foot firmly planted itself on the ledge as he jumped. A shriek escaped from him as he cleared the gap in between the buildings and landed wrong, his foot slipping on the gravel and he tumbled to the ground, rolling across the roof before he came to a stop on his back.

Selina ran over to him, a concerned look on her face as she skidded into a kneeling position next to where he had landed. “Tim? Are you alright?” Her hands came out and framed his face.

He stared up at her before he started laughing. His side ached a little as he wheezed. “That… That was awesome!” At first he had expected it to feel like the night that Selina had held onto him as they swung between buildings with her whip, but this was much more exhilarating.

Jumping across a large gap without a lifeline or someone else to hold on to. The adrenaline high that he had felt when swinging was nothing compared to jumping. Tim quickly sat up, slapping his hands over Selina’s as he turned towards her. “Let’s do it again.”

Her lips parted in shock before she started laughing. Selina got up and walked towards the ledge of this rooftop, pointing towards a different building. “That one. This time, try to roll when you land, like a somersault. It’ll slow you down and should cushion your landing if you do it right.” She jumped again, this time flipping in the air and easily landing on her feet.

Tim scrambled up and brushed himself off. His side ached and his foot was protesting at how it had twisted a little when he had fallen, but it didn’t seem like it was an injury that would hinder him. This time he ran towards the ledge without taking a moment to compose himself and he whooped in excitement as he leaped into the air.

-                    

Tim and Selina were walking down a busy street during the weekend. There were people bustling all around him as they wandered through the Christmas market in Downtown Gotham. He was tucked into her side as they walked arm in arm.

When he was younger his parents had taken him to the Christmas market once before, but he hadn’t been since. His parents were always off on his father’s digs and sometimes they weren’t even home for Christmas, like they wouldn’t be this year.

He had received his weekly call from his mother earlier in the day and she had told him that they wouldn’t be back before the end of the year. Janet Drake had promised him that presents would be delivered to the house, but that wasn’t what he had wanted. So he had run off and found himself in front of Selina’s apartment. Luckily, she had been in and once she heard his story she had declared that they needed to go out.

Thus she had taken him to the marketplace. The square had been done up quite nicely. Tinsel and baubles hanging from the trees and the stalls were decorated with lights and garlands and pretty much everything that one could associate with as a Christmas decoration.

They wandered around, weaving through the crowd, sometimes pausing to look at what some of the stalls had to offer, but mostly just walking together in silence. At one point Selina spotted a stall that sold hot drinks and pulled him over.

They sat next to each other on a bench that had been cleaned of snow so people could sit down. Tim had asked Selina what she had been drinking and she handed her cup over to him to try. He took a sniff of it first, his nose wrinkling at the smell of what seemed like wine and strong spices. Nonetheless, he took a sip of it. He choked on the drink and coughed as it went down wrong.

Selina happily laughed next to him as he shoved the drink back at her and reached out to grab his hot chocolate to wash the taste down. He groaned in displeasure as he turned back towards her, sticking his tongue out in disgust. “What _is_ that?”

“Glühwein. It’s heated red wine with cinnamon, star aniseed and a bunch of other things.” Her nails tapped against the cardboard cup as she took her own sip with a grin.

“It’s gross.” Tim muttered as he turned back towards his hot chocolate.

There were a lot of different kind of people walking around, Tim noted as he turned his attention back to the crowd. Young couples were walking with their arms around each other, families with children bouncing up and down in excitement, elderly people pausing at every stall to take in what was for sale, and teenagers walking around in groups. His eyes caught a teenager who was following around two young women. There was a hood over his head and he looked around a few times before taking a few extra strides so he was right behind one of the women. His hand slipped into the purse and he quickly pulled it out, her wallet in his hand. The teenager quickly made off, shoving the stolen wallet into his pockets and disappeared into the crowd. All the while the woman was still walking around, talking to her friend without having noticed that she had been robbed.

Tim only realized that his mouth had fallen open when Selina reached over and tapped his chin. He quickly closed it with a loud click of his teeth. “Don’t look so surprised, Timmy. A busy place like this is the perfect hunting spot for pick pockets.”

“How did he-” Tim’s words trailed off. He wasn’t exactly sure what he was supposed to say to that. He knew that people stole from others, in fact, he was sitting next to the most notorious thief in Gotham.

“How did he do it? It’s simple, really.” Selina placed her cup down on the bench between them. “It’s all about timing and speed. You saw him, didn’t you? He followed her around for a little and he waited for the perfect time to reach into her purse and pull out her wallet. He chose to strike when she was busy doing something else, but the most skilled thieves can rob someone by simple distraction. Make them focus on something else. Misdirection if you will.”

“So you’re telling me that you could walk up to someone, start talking to them and rob them without them noticing?” Tim asked her, even though he already knew the answer to his question.

Selina hummed as she looked around. Her back straightening slightly when her eyes focused on a man who was standing alone, looking around like he was searching for someone. She quickly looked at Tim, winking at him as she got up.

She sauntered over to the man, already catching his attention even from far away. It wasn’t long before she was standing alongside him and they were talking. Selina leaned in closer with every minute that went by. If Tim hadn’t been watching her every move, he would have missed her hand slipping into his jacket pocket.

Once she had grabbed her prize, she tucked her hands into her pockets and chatted him up for a minute longer before making noise about having to go. They ended their conversation and she blew a kiss at the man as she walked off. She caught Tim’s eyes and tilted her head towards the large Christmas tree that had been set up in the middle of the market.

Tim jumped off of the bench, tossing out both of their cups and quickly started off towards the Christmas tree. Selina was waiting for him, her hands buried in her pockets as she leaned against the fence that surrounded the giant fir tree. As he approached her, Tim held his hands out. She dropped a slim wallet in them.

The way that she had done it looked so easy. Tim knew that she had had years of training before she had gotten so good that she could steal from people from right under their noses and it intrigued him. So far she had been teaching him many different things. Leaping from rooftops, giving him pointers on how to fight and the best ways to hide from people, but this was something that she hadn’t even mentioned teaching to him.

Tim closed his hands around the wallet as he bit his lip. Did he dare? He shuffled his feet in indecision, feeling Selina’s eyes on him the entire time.

Eventually he looked up at her.

“Teach me.” He breathed out, his words accompanied with white tuffs of condensation.

Selina was impassive as she looked back at him. “Are you sure this is something you want to learn?”

“Yes.” Tim replied.

It was silent as she contemplated the request. In the end she just huffed and patted his head, a gesture that was becoming very familiar at this point in time. “Guess you couldn’t have picked a better place for me to teach you then.”

Tim grinned widely.

-

His parents returned right after New Year’s, so it was impossible for him to go out without them asking questions.

Even though he couldn’t get away to see Selina, that didn’t mean that he stopped practicing his sleight of hand. Sometimes he’d slip into his parent’s room when his mother was getting ready for the day. They never really had much to talk about before she dismissed him, but most of the time he’d leave the room with small items tucked inside of his sleeves.

When his mother started complaining that she was starting to lose her makeup and find it in the strangest places, it was hard for Tim to hide his grin.

He did the same with his father and the housekeeper. Distracting them with conversation or getting them to look at something as he filched things from them. Pens, keys, cooking utensils, you name it and Tim had probably tried to take it away.

Tim had to attend a few charity balls with his parents. Whenever they were in Gotham they liked to take him to those kinds of events either to show him off or just for the sake of appearances.

Usually Tim followed them around like a little shadow, but he had decided to take it a little more seriously. Slipping away from behind them and not being there when they turned around to try and introduce him to some stiff upper class Gothamites, only for him to pipe up from beside them.

The first few times had been very amusing. He was only able to do it a handful of times each night before his mother started getting irritated with him and sent him off to fetch himself a drink or a snack.

This was the time when Tim started honing in on his skills. Blending in with the crowd, hiding in plain sight, and using misdirection. He had multiple shoe boxes hidden underneath his bed. Almost all of them were filled with the pictures that he had taken of Batman and Robin, but most recently he had started accumulating his prizes as well.

A ring from an older woman who had cooed over him as she pinched his cheeks. A pendant from a young drunk woman who had draped herself over him. More notably, a golden watch from the president of some big company that he had stolen from the man’s wrist while his parents had been talking to him.

There were many other items as well. Cufflinks, large crisp bills, more jewelry consisting of necklaces, earrings and rings. At one point he had to stop because people had started noticing that they were missing things whenever they came back from such big wig events. Luckily, no one ever seemed to think that it was young Timothy Drake who was the culprit.

More than once he had spotted valets, coat clerks and bartenders under suspicion as he watched them from afar. A part of him felt sorry that they were accosted because he had been stretching his sticky fingers, but there was a delight in knowing that he was getting away with stealing so easily.

It was a few weeks into February when his parents announced that they were heading off, to Guatemala this time, without knowing how long they would stay away. He had dutifully waved them off as their car drove off to the airport and a few hours later he was standing in front of Selina’s apartment door.

She wasn’t in when he arrived, but Tim had been determined to show off his stash. He went outside, making sure his bag of goodies was secured properly before he started climbing the brick wall of the building.

Selina’s apartment was on the fourth floor, so it was a bit of a struggle for him to get up, but eventually he made it. Tim used a small pocket knife that he had filched off of someone to jimmy open the lock of the window and he slipped in.

Rosa was sitting underneath the window, purring as his feet hit the floor and he reached down to scratch the top of her head. Kaleb, the newest edition, a large orange tabby, was staring skeptically at him from his perch on top of the armoire.

Tim settled down on the white chaise lounge and put his socked feet up on the coffee table. His bag was set down on the floor and Rosa crawled into his lap. He leaned his head against the back of the couch, shutting his eyes.

He hadn’t even realized that he had fallen asleep until something clanged in the distance and he jerked up. Tim needed a moment to orient himself, until he remembered where he was.

Selina had just shut the door behind herself and had tossed something into the kitchen, which had woken him up.

Tim yawned loudly and rubbed at his eyes with the heels of his palms as he listened to Selina walk up towards him. She leaned against the back of the couch, reaching down to wrap her arms around his neck and resting her cheek on the top of his head.

She started rubbing her cheek over his hair, causing him to squirm and giggle in her hold. “Sit still, Kitten. I haven’t seen you in forever.”

He dutifully did as she asked, but kept on laughing as she rubbed their faces together. Eventually she ended up draped over him with her chin hooked over his shoulder. Tim waited until she seemed settled before he picked his bag up using his feet, there was no reason to dislodge Selina, and held it up for her.

“I practiced while I was gone.” He shook the bag and he could immediately feel her perk up when she heard the items jingling together.

Her arms disappeared from around his neck and she jumped over the back of the couch next to him, looking between him and the bag before motioning for him to open it. Tim grinned as he zipped it open and upended the bag.

It was great to see her eyes glistening the same way some of the jewelry was as she picked each item up to inspect them. They sat in content silence as Selina picked through the items, eventually ending up with the golden watch.

“Timmy, where did you find all of these?”

Tim bit his lip. He hadn’t gotten around to telling her who he actually was yet. At first he hadn’t wanted to divulge the information because he had still been weary of her and then he hadn’t said anything because he just didn’t want her to know that he was part of the wealthy one percent in Gotham. “What if I told you that Mister Gilliam from Gilliam pharmaceuticals was easy to steal from? And that young Janice Spencer has a hard time keeping her hands to herself when she’s tipsy?” He held up the pendant that he had taken from her.

One by one he went through each of the items, recounting who he had gotten them from and how. Selina had eventually shifted her attention from the items to Tim himself as he spoke.

It didn’t take long for her to put two and two together. “I heard that someone was stealing during quite a few high function parties.”

Tim couldn’t help but grin at her.

“How did you-?” Her eyes narrowed as her question trailed off.

“Let’s just say that I have a standing invitation?” He hazarded. For a moment it looked like Selina was going to question him further, but she just shrugged and reached over to pat him on the head and he preened under her attention.

“I’ll take your word for it then.” Selina ruffled his hair with a smirk and he swatted her hands away. “I was going to wait, but I think you’re ready for the next step.”

Selina got up off of the couch and glided towards her room. As Tim waited for her to come back he started putting some of the stolen items back into his bag. He wanted Selina to keep a few of them, the watch and pendant amongst them, as a thank you for teaching him and taking her under his wing for the past couple of months.

When she came back holding a black suit he was surprised, excited and cautious at the same time. He pushed himself up and walked over to her, grabbing the suit and rubbing it between his fingers. “It isn’t leather?”  
  
“It just looks like leather. Could you imagine leaping rooftop to rooftop in leather?” She scowled as she pushed it towards him. “Now, try it on. I want to see if I got your measurements right.”

Tim took the suit and wandered into the bathroom to get changed. To his surprise it was a lot more flexible than he had thought it would be. It was still a bit stiff, but he guessed that it just needed to be broken in. It looked to be close to Selina’s suit so he knew that he should be able to do everything that she did as well.

It was a lot more form fitting than anything that he had ever worn before, so that was something that he really was going to need to get used to. Tim fiddled with the rounded zipper as he left the bathroom. He looked up when he heard Selina coo delightfully at his appearance. He could feel his cheeks heat up and he stared down at his feet.

“You are adorable, Kitten.” Selina announced as she walked over and pulled something over his head.

Tim reached up and felt around, grabbing onto protrusions that couldn’t be anything other than ears and a pair of goggles. He pulled them down over his eyes, the lenses were red, and blinked a few times as he got used to them.

Tim turned to the side, placing his hands on his hips and tilting his head back as he pursed his lips. “How do I look?”

“Like what I imagined I’d look like if I were a man.” He pouted at her as she started laughing. “It’s a compliment, Kitten. Now, let’s see how much you’ve learned, shall we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Join me on [Tumblr](http://flashthroughlight.tumblr.com/)!  
> 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tim takes his new suit out for a test ride.

Follow Batman and Robin around. Drop in during their fights and pick up wayward item like batarangs, grappling hooks and other tools. Only one rule. Don’t be seen.

At first glance it seemed to be simple enough. Tim had followed Batman and Robin around for three years without being seen or caught on to and that was before he had had any training.

The assignment was simple, or should he call it a test?

The first night he goes out he wasn’t even able to find either Batman or Robin.

He’d settled for stalking some Two Face’s gang members. It had been fun and games for a few hours as he toyed with them. Dropping in behind one of them to tap them on the shoulder and flip into the shadows before they spotted him. Tossing a rock towards a corner of the room and distract them so he could slip in and steal some of the cards off of the table they were playing poker on.

He wasn’t as seamless or as graceful as Selina, but practicing tumbling and cartwheels on a daily basis to strive off his boredom when he was stuck in his mansion was a good way of improving and keeping himself busy. So naturally it wasn’t too long before he got too full of himself and slipped up.

“Oi!” A large man shouted out as he pointed over towards Tim, who was kneeling by a wooden crate and reaching out to grab the last beer bottle which was to be claimed at the end of the game.

Tim blinked behind his red lenses a few times. “Oh crap.” He muttered as he pushed himself up and started running off deeper into the warehouse.

“Get ‘m!”

He yelped in surprise as he turned a corner and a bullet embedded itself into the wall where he just been.

It had been a lot easier to steal when he didn’t have to worry about people chasing after him with guns. Once or twice he had gotten caught reaching out for something during his stealing escapade when his parents dragged him to black tie events, but he had gotten away with it as people would only tut and at him and mention that he was such a cute kid.

So it was his first time actually being chased. By goons with guns no less. Tim spotted an open window and pounced up. He grabbed onto the ledge and pulled himself up, yelping once more as his boots slipped on the wall which almost caused him to fall back down. He pulled himself up with sheer force of will and fell out the window just as a rain of bullets came down on him.

Tim covered his head as he dropped down to the ground, instinctively protecting his head even if his cowl would keep him from harm from the falling glass.

The instant that the goons stopped shooting Tim took his chance and ran off into the dark, clinging onto a rain pipe and climbing up onto the roof of another warehouse. He hid behind a refrigeration unit as he caught his breath, listening to the men running out and spreading out in search of him.

When he saw a chance to escape the area he took it. Tim dashed over the rooftops without looking back. This was a lot more risky than he had thought. Of course he knew that it was possible for him to get into situations like that, but never had he expected it to be on his first night out and so violent.

He leaped between buildings until he felt safe enough to stop and he shoved himself in the space between two greenhouses, curling up in himself as he tried not to cry. It wasn’t too much later that he heard shuffling near where he was. Tim tensed up, but relaxed as a hand patted his head.

He looked up, feeling that his lip was trembling as he tried to compose himself. Catwoman was looking at him with a worried expression. Tim knew that there would be no way that Selina would let him go out completely on his own. No doubt she had kept an eye on him from a distance, but just seeing her there right in front of him in his moment of weakness was so comforting.

Without a word Tim crawled out from his hiding spot, his arms immediately wrapping around Selina’s waist as he clung onto her. She bent down as she hugged him back, rocking him back and forth as she soothed him.

Tim rubbed his face against her stomach, pushing the goggles up away from his eyes as he was comforted by her. They swayed back and forth for an indeterminate amount of time before Tim sniffed loudly and looked up at her.

She didn’t say anything as she pushed his cowl off and started running her fingers through his hair.

“I’m sorry.” Tim mumbled, biting his lip.

“You don’t need to apologize, Kitten. I shouldn’t have let you go out on your own.” Selina shushed him, pushing his bangs out of his face.

The night had started off so well. Even if he hadn’t been able to locate Batman and Robin, he’d still had fun toying with those goons. Until it all crashed down around him. “I failed…” He would forever deny that his voice broke as he continued speaking. “Does this mean I have to give the suit back?”

Selina sighed softly. She was silent for a while and it made Tim’s stomach drop. She was going to take the suit away from him, maybe even stop teaching him. Tim was a failure. Even with all of his successes and his strive to learn everything that she could possibly teach him, what reason was there for Catwoman to keep him around if he failed his very first task on his first night out?

“No.” She said eventually as she ran the pads of her thumbs over his wet cheeks. “This just means that I’m not leaving your side until we both think you’re ready to go out alone. Don’t give me that look, Kitten. You weren’t seen by Batman and Robin, were you?”

Tim guessed that she was right. He sighed as he leaned against her. Just the sound of her heart beating in her chest by his ear and the feeling of her running her hands through his hair was enough for him right now.

-

They went out together as often as Catwoman’s agenda would allow it. Some nights Tim was stuck back at the mansion because she had a heist planned or he would sit in her apartment as he waited for her to return.

Some nights they wouldn’t go out at all as Selina opted to train him more on his fighting skills or on his acrobatics.

Sometimes they went out together during the day. Just enjoying each other’s company as they roamed the streets of Gotham. As soon as a nice spring day had come along they had gone to the park and Selina had gotten them milkshakes where after Tim showed off the handstand that he had been practicing for hours on end the night before.

Eventually she even gave him his own whip. It wasn’t as nice as hers, or as long, but she said that it was a practice whip and that he’d get a proper one once he had become proficient in using it. He’d grow out of it either way eventually she told him dutifully.

As nice as it was to just spend time together like that, Tim loved being out and stalking Batman and Robin.

At first they’d just observed from a distance until Catwoman pointed out a batarang that had skidded to the ground and away from the fighting and told him to go get it.

More often than not those were the exercises that she had him do at first.

Sometimes they’d just follow Batman and Robin around. Tim thought that Batman had eyes in the back of his head, because he often turned around when they got within a certain distance of either him or Robin and they’d have to duck away and hide. They’d hidden behind many objects, giggling into their hands as they waited for the Bat to continue on.

Before long Selina started letting him continue on his own. They’d start out the night together, but as soon as they came across their targets Catwoman would pat his head and let him go his own way for the night.

Tim knew that she wasn’t ever very far from him on those nights, but it felt so good to know that she trusted him enough to go out on his own. If he thought that sitting around waiting for the Dynamic Duo to appear so he could take pictures of them was exciting, it was nothing compared to actually having the ability to follow them around in the night and watch their every exploit.

As amazed as he was by both of the vigilantes, it was Robin that he kept a close eye on. Batman was a force in his own right, but Robin had always fascinated him. Ever since he figured out that Dick Grayson was Robin when he saw the quadruple somersault on the TV and even after when Dick moved on as Nightwing and Jason Todd took over the Robin mantle.

Tim saw the difference between Dick and Jason easily, not just by their appearances, but also in how they fought. Where Dick had all been flowing motion and clever tricks, Jason was head on brute force. It was quite the sight to see him go all out as he fought.

These differences were only further pronounced whenever Tim watched as Batman berated the teenager for using excessive force or for not following instructions. Jason cursed a lot and Tim even caught him smoking a few times.

It all came to a head the night that Felipe Garzonas had fallen to his death. It had been quite a story in the news a few nights earlier. He had been accused of raping several girls, but had escaped prosecution due to his father’s diplomatic immunity.

Tim had written that night off as one where he wouldn’t see either the caped crusader or his sidekick when he had spotted a flash of yellow and red on a balcony. He spotted it just in time to hear a shout and see Felipe tipping over the edge of the balcony and falling to his death.

Tim held his breath as he leaned over the edge of the taller building that he was perched on, looking down at the broken body at the ground and the people shrieking in fear.

His head snapped back up when he heard Batman speak harshly to Robin. He was just able to hear what Robin said even from his far away perch. “I guess I spooked him. He slipped.” Jason had said it so simply. Like it was just another conversation that was held over morning tea.

On the one hand, he could understand where Jason was coming from. To know that such a disgusting human being was no longer around to hurt other people was a comfort, but knowing that he had gone out the way that he had?

Even after Batman and Robin left, Tim’s mind was still reeling. He hadn’t seen it properly, but he was starting to wonder if Robin had actually pushed the man off of the roof.

There was one rule that he knew that Batman had. And that was not to kill. Selina had explained it to Tim as that Batman had to be above the criminals that he fought. That it would be too easy to cross the line.

When he had asked if she had ever taken a life before Selina had simply patted his head and muttered about necessities.

It all started spiraling downhill from there.

Even as Tim observed from a distance he could see that Batman and Robin were fighting amongst themselves more and more often until at one point Batman pulled the teenager aside after a fight at the docks and Robin stormed off angrily.

Tim hadn’t seen Robin for a few nights after that.

He was on his way home, playing with a small device that he had picked up off the ground after it had fallen out of Batman’s utility belt.

Selina hadn’t known was it was exactly, so he had been planning on taking it home to play around with it. It almost looked like a tracking device or receiver of some sort. In the pocket of his hoodie was also a batarang and a golden tooth that Batman had punched out of a goon’s mouth.

He stopped in his tracks when he saw a teenager standing in front of a building, looking around as if he was searching for something or someone. At first he wanted to duck into the alleyway so he could view him from a distance, but decided that there was no need to. It wasn’t like Tim was in costume.

The boy had a backpack and a suitcase with him, Tim noticed as he walked up to him.

“Hello.” Tim cautioned as he approached.

He stopped in his tracks as the other boy turned towards him with a scowl. This wasn’t just any boy. This was Jason Todd and he was standing right in front of Tim. Tim was infinitely grateful that he had pulled his hood up. Even if he and Jason had never formally met before, they had crossed paths during Wayne Enterprise charity galas. Tim had always seen Jason, but he had never assumed that the older boy had ever seen him before.

“What d’you want?” Jason snarled out, obviously not in a good mood. He hadn’t been in a good mood the last time that Tim had seen him either.

“What’re you doin’?” Tim asked him, not letting Jason intimidate him. He had faced down a dozen goons with guns before, an angry teenager was nothing in comparison.

Jason scoffed, reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out a pack of cigarettes. “Just looking to say goodbye to someone before I left.” He placed a cigarette between his lips and looked over at Tim, then at his cigarettes and back at Tim. He held out the packet as an offer and Tim just held his hands up and shook his head.

The older boy shrugged as he shoved the packet back into his pockets and lit the cigarette. They stood in silence before Tim spoke up again. “Why are you leaving?”

Tim would never leave Gotham. Not on his own at the very least and not for an extended amount of time that Jason had seemed to have prepared himself for. Tim couldn’t understand why Jason would run off. Even if Batman and Robin, and in turn Bruce and Jason, were arguing, surely it wasn’t as bad that Jason would run away?

“Gotham sucks balls. I’m out of this fucking shithole to find someone.” The older boy responded, blowing out white smoke.

“Alone?” Tim continued and he frowned when Jason nodded.

He bounced on the balls of his feet as he thought about what to do. He couldn’t, in good conscious, let Jason run off. Not when it was obvious that the teenager was leaving angry and no doubt doing this in retaliation against Batman.

Tim rolled his fingers and looked down at the small device in his hand. As much as he wanted to take a look at it himself, he guessed that there was no time like the present to test something out.

Tim hummed under his breath as he leaned towards Jason, his hands behind his back as he regarded the older boy. He smiled when Jason cocked his head to the side in confusion and made a show of walking around him. He paused when he was on Jason’s left side, reaching out and pretending to pluck something from between the folds of his jacket.

He held up the small device, turning it around and holding it up so Jason could see it as well. “What’s this?”

Jason’s reaction was immediate. He reached up and smacked the spot where Tim had supposedly taken the device from and cursed loudly. His cigarette slipped out from between his lips as he dropped his backpack to try and take it from Tim.

Now this was interesting.

“Don’t push it!”

He made a confused noise the same time that he squeezed the device. Jason reached out and grabbed his wrist, squeezing tightly until Tim let the device drop. Tim pulled his hand back as soon as Jason let go, cradling his hurt wrist to his chest.

“Shit. Fuck. Shit. Do you have any idea what you just did, you fucking idiot?”

There wasn’t time to answer the question when the whooshing sound of fabric descended down upon them and Batman landed behind Jason.

Jason whirled around with another loud curse and Tim tilted his head away from the light of the street lamp that they were close to. Tim had been introduced to Bruce Wayne before. Although the man tended to make himself look like an idiot whenever he was in public, Tim knew that that man and Batman weren’t anything alike. He could only imagine that Bruce Wayne was just keeping up appearances.

Batman was often called the World’s Greatest Detective, and if any of that was the truth, then he would undoubtedly recognize Tim.

He shrunk back, taking a few steps away from Jason and Batman as they started to argue.

They both seemed to forget that he was there as they argued loudly. Tim wasn’t paying as close attention as he should have, but he still caught bits and pieces of what they were talking about. Batman scolding Jason for running off and demanding to know why the teen had run off in the first place. It sparked a one-sided screaming match as Jason shouted and ranted at the Batman, who just looked down at his ward without saying a word. Tim caught a few threads about Jason’s mother and Bruce not trusting him and how he needed to do this on his own.

Tim was content and thinking of slipping away when Jason dragged him back into the conversation. “You probably wouldn’t even have noticed I was gone until this fucking idiot pulled a _tracking device_ off of my jacket! You planted a tracking device on my jacket?!”

Batman’s attention immediately shifted to Tim and the boy hunched his shoulders as he turned away. “I- Uuh… Maybe I should give you two space to talk?” Tim said nervously as Batman walked over to him, a fuming Jason stalking behind him.

“What are you doing out here.” Batman said in his gravelly voice, the sentence more of a demand than a question.

“I was just goin’ home! I swear! I won’t tell no one. I ain’t saw or heard nothin’!” Tim loudly protested, trying to go for a lower Gotham accent to disguise his voice. Selina had more often than once laughed at his proper way of speaking and nothing would stand out more than a small boy speaking eloquently to the Batman in the neighborhood that they were in.

Batman loomed over him, looking Tim up and down and Tim gulped as he tilted his head away even further. “I-I know it ain’t none of my business but…” Tim hesitated as he held his hands up, looking over at where Jason was glaring at him from behind Batman. “Maybe the two of you should talk it out?

From the way that Batman’s hand twitched beside him Tim was expecting the man to reach out and pull the hood away, but all he did was grab his cape and turn around. “Grab your things. The Batmobile is two blocks from here.”

Jason seemed to already realize that he wasn’t going to be able to argue his way out of the situation and grabbed his backpack and suitcase as he grumbled to himself and started off without a word.

Batman started walking away and Tim instinctively reached out and grabbed onto the man’s arm. His mouth was dry and his stomach rolled in nervousness as the Bat looked down at him. “You… Ah… Should keep an eye on him. I think he needs you to help him with this. Don’t leave his side.”

Tim spoke softly, pulling his hand back slowly as Batman turned to watch Jason’s back. He held his breath as he started inching backwards, before he was able to turn into one of the alleys.

Tim quickly ran to the other end of the alley towards the place where Jason had set off to. As much as he would’ve like to stick around and see if Batman would be able to figure out when he had disappeared to, he was more worried about Jason at that point.

He peered from around the brick wall of an apartment building as Jason chucked his things into the Batmobile and climbed in, huffing angrily as he crossed his arms over his chest. Batman arrived a few seconds later and got in without a word or even looking in Tim’s direction.

The Batmobile sped off into the distance and Tim stayed in his hiding spot for a few minutes before he turned around and quickly made his way to where he had left his bike.

-

Neither Batman nor Robin were spotted in Gotham for a few nights after that and Tim didn’t mention his encounter to Selina when he sees her again.

It took several weeks before Batman had returned to patrolling Gotham, this time with Nightwing at his side. There were rumors on the streets that Robin has either been horrendously maimed or even dead.

The thought that Jason was dead made Tim want to cry. He had been hoping that he and Bruce would be able to patch whatever was going on between them and how would that even be possible if Jason was dead?

So he was more than surprised when he came back to Selina’s apartment one night after another solo night to see her perched on the arm chair and look up at him with a sly smirk. “Word on the street is that Batman is looking for a little boy.”

Tim froze, his hands still above his head as he pulled off his goggles. Selina slipped off of the arm chair, walking towards him. “He’s about this tall.” She held her hand right at about his own height. “He was wearing a blue Gotham Knights hoodie and heading down Balmer Ave a few weeks back.” Tim didn’t say anything as he pulled his hood off as well and held it to his chest.

Selina leaned down, grabbing Tim’s chin and moving his face so he was looking right at her. “Apparently Batman would like to thank this little boy.”

Even though he had been planning on not saying anything, after that Tim wasn’t even able to find any words. “Apparently,” Selina continued on as she stared him down, “he gave Batman some advice that he ended up taking and it saved Robin’s life.”

The weight that had been on Tim’s shoulders for so long slipped off and he let out a relieved sigh at the words. He ignored Selina’s pleased look as he dropped his shoulders and closed his eyes.

The one rule that he had had was not to be seen by Batman or Robin. Whilst he was pretty sure that Selina had only meant it when he was in his costume, Tim couldn’t help but wonder if he had failed her test.

Her hand came up as he patted his head. “Such a good little Kitten.”

“Huh?” Was the only thing that Tim could reply with. He was confused that she would act in such a laidback manner.

Her mouth curled up into a smile. “Sometimes it’s necessary for us Cats to take care of wayward Bats.”

They both laughed at her words and Tim perked up at her praise. “This also give us an excuse to burn that awful hoodie. I don’t like it.” She ignored Tim’s indignant exclamation as she walked towards the kitchen. She picked up a folder and held it out to Tim, who took it from her. “I think you’re ready to join me on a job.”

-

He woke up to the smell of pancakes, and Rosa’s furry side in his face. Tim blew away the cat hair that was in his mouth, eventually irritating Rosa enough that she jumped off of his chest, but not without sending him a disgruntled look.

Yawning and stretching as he sat up, Tim looked around the apartment. This was the first time that he had ever stayed the night at Selina’s. When she had made it clear that she wanted to take him out on their first heist together, he had concocted a story to tell Mrs. Mac, his housekeeper, that he would be staying over at a classmates house as they worked on a project for school. She had taken it in stride after he had told her she wouldn’t need to come to the house for the day.

Tim pushed his bangs out of his face, his hair was really starting to get long, and looked over to the thick manila folder on the coffee table. His mouth curled up in a smile as he remembered the night before.

Selina had disabled the alarm, but she had let him pick the lock to the drawer that held the folder. It had only taken him less than a minute, which was a new record for him, and they had been in and out in less than half an hour.

He wasn’t exactly sure about the contents of the folder, but he found that he didn’t really care. Selina had taken Tim out on one of her jobs and had praised his good work.

A plate with pancakes piled on it was set down on the table in front of him and a newspaper was dropped on his lap. Tim looked up at Selina in confusion as she turned away to go back to the kitchen.

Tim picked up the newspaper and started reading through it. At first he didn’t really understand why Selina had given it to him, until he reached page 5. It wasn’t a large article, but it was enough to catch his eye.

**Is Batman not the only one with a sidekick anymore?**

The article itself went on about a break in inside of a law firm where sensitive documents had been stolen. The author started out with writing that it was obviously a job done by Catwoman, but continued on with a few questions that they had apparently asked the police. The Commissioner had refused to say much, but he had released information that Catwoman had not done the heist by herself. Somehow, the author had gotten a hold of a blurry security footage picture from a camera that was inside of the office. Tim had been sure that Selina had disabled them, but there it was. Catwoman leaning against the large filing cabinet as she watched a young boy in a similar costume pick open the lock of one of the drawers.

The article continued on about how Batman and his young sidekicks were a bad influence and how he was encouraging children to seek out criminals and ask for tutelage and more crap like that.

Tim looked away from the newspaper when Selina came back from the kitchen with her own plate, sitting down on the couch next to him. “What’s this?” He asked her. She only chuckled as she forked a piece of pancake into her mouth, curling her legs up underneath her.

“I thought that it was a good idea to let everyone know that I have a partner in crime now.”

Tim gaped at her. The meaning of those words was heavy. It meant that she trusted him. Trusted him to work with her, to keep her secrets, to be able to care of himself. He looked from her to the article and back.

“Really?” His voice was soft and shaky because he couldn’t believe what she was saying.

Selina’s pleased smile became a frown and she reached out, patting his head as she always did with him. “If you want to? I’m sorry if I assumed and-”

Tim didn’t let her finish as he launched himself at her, wrapping his arms around her tightly and burying his face in her neck. She didn’t hesitate as she wrapped her arms around him to reciprocate. There were so many different feelings bubbling up in Tim at that moment.

But the one that was the strongest was the warm feeling in his stomach knowing that he was wanted.

“You don’t even have to ask.” Tim breathed out as he leaned back again, looking down at the article. “I don’t like what they called me though.”

Selina leaned over and quickly read through the article. “Catlad? I like it, it has a nice ring to it.”

Tim shook his head. There was just something about it that wasn’t computing in his mind. Never before had he thought up of a name for himself, since he hadn’t thought that he’d ever get this far, or at least had gotten this far so soon.

If he didn’t nip this in the bud as soon as possible, people were going to be calling him Catlad and it was going to stick. That was something that he didn’t want. But that meant that he’d need to come up with a different name.

He was coming up blank until he thought back to the night when Selina had invited him back to her apartment for the first time.

_“I like taking strays in.”_

“Stray.” He piped up and Selina watched him closely. “I’m the little Stray that you picked up and I just never left.”

“Stray.” Selina said after him, and he was reminded once more of the first night that they had spent in each other’s company. “My little Stray Kitten.” Her mouth curled up into a satisfied smile as she nodded her approval.

Tim was sure that if he smiled any wider that he would break his face. His stomach grumbled and he reached out to grab his own plate. He leaned against her as they ate.

Get ready, Gotham. He thought.

Stray was going out on the prowl.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This concludes the story of how Tim became Stray! The following installments will be all the things that he gets up to over the years. I hope you're enjoying it so far.
> 
> Join me on [Tumblr](http://flashthroughlight.tumblr.com/)!

**Author's Note:**

> Join me on [Tumblr](http://flashthroughlight.tumblr.com/)!  
> My latest brain-child. We've started to create a much larger verse for this, so I'm excited to start this journey with you all! Please kudos and comment~


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